


A Word to the Wise

by Sequesters



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Cross-Generational Friendship, Gen, I should write Stingy and the Mayor segments more often they're SO much fun, Wisdom Teeth, discussion of them, no operation in this fic or anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 11:56:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11851077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sequesters/pseuds/Sequesters
Summary: Stingy gets some words of wisdom from Mayor Meanswell.  A request from the very talented indigowallbreaker on Tumblr (indigorose50 here).





	A Word to the Wise

**Author's Note:**

> As said in the summary, this is for indigowallbreaker on Tumblr. I hope your operation goes well and that you heal up very soon!!

Mayor Milford Meanswell was enjoying a perfectly calm afternoon in Lazytown.  He was settled in his chair, a newspaper in his lap, the sun shining quite pleasantly through the window next to him.  He sighed deeply, smiled a little, and began to read.

No sooner had his newspaper reading session begun, however, than it was cut short.  Stingy burst through his front door, carrying a curious black piece of paper.

"Mr. Mayor! Mr. Mayor!" he called frantically, racing over to him.

"Ah, Stingy, my young friend," Milford said fondly, closing his newspaper and turning his full attention to the boy who often asked for his advice.  "What's going on in the-in the _world_ of the youth today?"

"What's going ON? What is going ON???" Stingy asked, in abject horror. "I think you'll find that THIS is going on!!" he brandished the paper at the mayor.

Milford accepted it, and held it up to the light of his window, which revealed that he was looking at a-

"Why, Stingy, is this an X-ray? Of your mouth?" he asked, peering closer at the glowing white markings.

"Of COURSE it is!" Stingy snapped, eyes still wide in terror, "It is the reason that my life is RUINED!"

"Well, it looks just-oh dear," Milford mumbled, spotting the problem.  "These teeth are growing in SIDEWAYS!" he said, tapping the image where a white tooth was tunneling under its neighbors.

"They're my WISDOM teeth," Stingy cried, "The dentist said that I have to get them OUT soon!"

"Wisdom teeth? My dear boy, you have NOTHING to worry about," Milford said comfortingly, patting the hyperventilating boy on the shoulder. "MANY people get their wisdom teeth taken out, even _I_ had to have it done in my youth.  The procedure is perfectly normal, and _perfectly_ safe."

Stingy abruptly stopped, fixing the mayor with an exasperated look.  "That's not the problem," he said, crossing his arms. "I'm NOT afraid of the surgery."

The mayor blinked in surprise. "Well, then, what ARE you afraid of, if I may ask?"

Stingy took a few moments to think, and then narrowed his eyes at the mayor.

"Well, MISTER mayor, let me put it this way.  Haven't you ALWAYS said that uh, wisdom is the most _valuable_ thing that can ever be owned?"

"Oh, yes, I _do_ say that, don't I?" the mayor said dreamily.

And that no one can _ever_ take it away from you?" Stingy continued, eyeing the mayor as if he were interrogating him on the witness stand.

The mayor blinked a few times in confusion. "Well, yes, that is true-"

"Not any-MORE!" Stingy said, losing his calm facade again.  He grabbed the mayor by the shoulders and stared into his eyes. "Don't you understand?! When they remove my WISDOM teeth, they're going to take all my WISDOM away!!" he yelled, shaking the mayor by the shoulders.

Stingy let go of the slightly dazed mayor with a sigh.  "All this time, I worked SO HARD in school," he lamented, starting to pace as the mayor collected himself.  "I did all my HOMEWORK, and read all those BOOKS, and now some-some _chump_ with a TOOTH DRILL is going to make me start over from KINDERGARTEN!"

Stingy slumped his shoulders as he stopped to catch his breath.

"I'm going to have to re-learn my ABCs," he said sadly, with a sniffle.

"Oh, Stingy," the mayor said comfortingly, "Wisdom isn't stored in your TEETH."

"Oh?" Stingy said disbelievingly, his lips pursed in a thin line.  "Then WHY, may I ask, are they called WISDOM teeth, if they don't hold all of your WISDOM!"

"Well, Stingy," the mayor began, "It is because most of your, uh, PERMANENT teeth grow in when you are still quite young.  In fact, I still remember when you lost your very first baby tooth!"

"Ah, yes," Stingy said, losing himself in nostalgia, "I traded it in for a gold coin from the tooth fairy."

"Yes, well," the mayor said, getting back on track, "Wisdom teeth grow in at a later age, when you are older and, well, WISER.  They don't STORE wisdom, you see, that is the brain's job.  They are simply a-a signal that you are growing up," he concluded with a fond smile.

"So you're saying," Stingy said slowly, shuffling his feet, "That I won't become an _imbecile_ if I get them...rrrremoved?" Stingy said, rolling the R.

"Oh, heavens no! Your wisdom is all kept safe and sound, inside that big, smart brain of yours," Milford said, tapping him on the forehead. "In fact, it would be a-a WISE decision to get those teeth taken out, before they can cause any damage."

Milford offered the X-ray back to Stingy, who stared at it for a moment, considering.  "I guess you're right," he admitted with a sigh.  "I'm very glad to know that my wisdom is not stored in something so... _removable."_

"By the way, uh, Stingy," the mayor said carefully, "Where did you get that X-ray? The dentist usually doesn't, er, hand out copies."

Stingy gasped, offended.  "This? Is an X-ray of MYYY teeth! And SINCE it is an X-ray of MYYY teeth, that means that the image is MINE too! So, of course, I grabbed it, while the dentist was...busy doing something else," he trailed off.

Milford took a deep breath.  "It may seem logical," he said gently, "But you should probably go give it back.  The dentist needs it for proper planning! You don't want him to take out the WRONG teeth because he didn't have his X-RAYS, do you?"

All the color drained from Stingy's face.

"I, uh, I gotta go right now immediately THANKS MAYOR!" he said, racing out the door at the speed of light, X-ray flapping behind him.

The mayor fumbled with trying to process the boy's quick exit.  "Uh, well, good luck with that!" he called, but Stingy was already well beyond earshot.  So, Milford settled back into his chair, and picked up his newspaper again.

"Wisdom inside your teeth," he mumbled, chuckling a little. "What fanciful stories will the children think of next?" he asked himself, opening up the paper and beginning to read.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how old Stingy is in this. Probably not a WHOLE lot older than the show? Sorry if this is unrealistic wisdom-teeth age, the idea was just too fun to pass up.


End file.
